Best overall soundcard/speakers for gaming/music

[soccerdude21490]

Hey guys, I don't really have that much of a budget that I need to stick to. But basictly I want a soundcard that is the best for gaming, from what I've heard the Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty is the best option so far... anyone else have any opinions?

also what do yo uthink the best speakers would be

 

[rodney_ws]

I realize you say you don't have a set budget, but I'd still recommend a cheaper solution... I have an X-Fi XTreme Music (mine was $89 after a $20 rebate) and it's a huge step up from my Sound Blaster Live. I'm just not sure there is any tangible advantage to the card you mentioned over the cheaper X-Fi.

 

[snyper133]

I have the creative X-Fi Xtreme Music with a pair of Logitech Z5300 5.1 speakers and Music, games and Movies sound absolutely amazing. If your not in the market for 5.1 they also make a kick ass pair of 2.1 for 56.99 the X-230.

 

[superbrett2000]

I'm just not sure there is any tangible advantage to the card you mentioned over the cheaper X-Fi.
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Well, you do get the satisfaction of knowing you blew extra cash so your card can have the word "fatality" printed on it.

If you like the idea of having all the extra audio hook ups, then just get a regular Platinum edition.

 

[cruentus]

I'm running X-FI Music paired with Klipsch 5.1 THX. If your budget will allow, I highly recommend both.


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[soccerdude21490]

alright, well I see it has that thing that looks like it plugs into the CD Drive and I believe u can hook ur 360 and what not into it so u can use those speakers for it.. right? Like that thing that plugs into it, what all can you do with it? It looks cool non the less

 

[snyper133]

I know that the Logitech Speakers like my Z5300's and my brother's X230's come with adapters so you can hook stuff like XBox, PS2, TV's, and stuff like that right to the speakers. By the way these Z5300's are THX certified which doesn't mean much. If you want the amazing DTS then your going to need a decoder. The X-Fi cards do come with DTS encoding built in. The Logitech Z5500's also come with DTS hardware decoding but it is not neeccessary if you alreadly hav e the encoding capabiliteis with the sound card.

If you are looking for DTS with your XBox 360 or whatever your hooking up to it you may need to get someting with Built In DTS hardware encoding. (I believe the XBox 360 does but someone should verify that.)

 

[astrallite]

I personally wouldn't worry if it was DD or DTS. It's really hard to tell unless you 1) level match the sources 2) can actively switch back and forth, as acoustical memory can be extremely short and 3) you need resolving speakers